PKR MP insists on URA's necessity for urban poor community

Summary

• PKR MP Sim Tze Tzin says the Urban Renewal Act is needed to ensure the welfare of the urban poor community, who have been marginalised thus far without the support provided by the proposed law.

• The Bayan Baru lawmaker criticises those opposing the Act, claiming that their motives are politically driven and unhelpful for the rakyat.

Government backbencher Sim Tze Tzin has reaffirmed the necessity of Putrajaya’s proposed Urban Renewal Act (URA) as a method to alleviate the urban poor community’s woes. 

Taking aim at Perikatan Nasional’s grouses claiming that the potential legislation will marginalise urban Malays, the PKR lawmaker highlighted that impoverished families - regardless of race - were already disempowered before the establishment of the URA.

For example, the Bayan Baru MP pointed to the proposed Mahsuri Urban Renewal project in his constituency. The project involved six blocks of five-storey buildings built in the early 1980s.

Sim said that after 40 years, the low-cost flats became dilapidated and unfit for habitation, with one of the blocks demolished as its structure was no longer sound.

Since the original owners of the flats consisted of Malays (55 percent), Chinese (35 percent), and Indians (10 percent) who have gradually moved out, Sim said the latest studies show that 70 percent of the current occupants are migrant workers.

“Only the B40 group remains, living in very poor conditions.

“The reality is that the poor Malays, Chinese, and Indians have been marginalised - even without the URA,” he said in a statement today.

He added that under the Mahsuri project, original owners are given a 350 sq ft replacement flat as well as an 850 sq ft new flat for free.

‘I feel compelled to speak out’

Asserting that the project received the full support of Malays, Chinese, and Indians who hoped that the URA would speed up the initiative, Sim said the new blocks are no longer low-cost flats, but affordable housing units valued at RM400,000 each. 

“I feel compelled to speak out against politicians who try to exploit this situation for their own gain.

“Their motives are politically driven and harmful (as) they only create more problems for the poor across all ethnicities,” Sim said.

READ MORE: KINIGUIDE | Urban Renewal Act - what do we know so far?

He also extended an invitation to URA critics to visit his constituency and listen to his explanation on the Mahsuri project, saying: “Let the facts speak for themselves, not manipulated sentiments.”

“I also urge the local residents to assess things for themselves (and) reject the parties which block their path to a better life,” he added.

The URA, which is likely to be tabled in Parliament in June or July, previously garnered strong opposition from certain quarters, with some claiming it would drive out poor Malays from urban areas.

Among those who had criticised the proposed law was PAS Youth, which had threatened to mobilise a rally against the proposed law and deemed it a form of “modern colonialism” that would see the poor chased out of their land like Palestinians.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has since lambasted the rally threat, cautioning the opposition to not disrupt the government’s plan aimed at helping urban Malays.

Anwar had also previously asserted that those opposing the URA have a hidden agenda to ensure Malays stay impoverished.

The prime minister also reiterated his assurances that the URA will not alter the status of affected lands, claiming that those opposing the Act have yet to present any counter-suggestions.

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